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China is planning to implement a ban on fossil fuel cars

China is planning to implement a ban on fossil fuel cars

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Regulators are working to prepare a timeline to end sales and production

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Photo: Ford

China is preparing to bring an end to the sale and production of fossil fuel vehicles, according to a report in Bloomberg. The country is aiming to use the ban as a way to encourage local automakers into developing electric cars.

Speaking at an auto forum on Saturday, Xin Guobin, the country’s vice minister of industry and information technology said that regulators are working to come up with a timeline for phasing out the sales and production of the vehicles.

China is the world’s largest market for automobiles, with over 28 million vehicles sold in 2016, a number that has continued to rise in recent years. Bloomberg notes that China has worked to encourage the growth of its electric-vehicle market through subsidies as it works to cut its carbon emissions.

Several other countries have announced similar intentions to ban fossil fuel-powered vehicles: France and the United Kingdom are both aiming to ban sales by 2040. Automakers are also increasingly looking towards electric vehicles: Volvo announced its intentions to produce only electric or electric-hybrids by 2019. Jaguar Land Rover plans to go all electric by 2020, while Aston Martin announced its plans to go completely hybrid by 2025.